When Saturday Comes partners with SD

Supporters Direct have partnered up with When Saturday Comes (WSC) to offer an exclusive offer to all members of supporters trusts, a fiver off the annual subscription. This means you can get the best of independent football writing delivered to your door every month for just £28.60.

We caught up with editor Andy Lyons to introduce the magazine and why it has been so popular over the past 30 years....

When Saturday Comes (WSC) aims to provide a voice for football fans to express their opinions on all aspects of the game.

Since the first issue was published in March 1986 – as a photocopied,hand-stapled production – the public image of football supporters has altered considerably and WSC has documented all those changes. From the football fanzine boom and growth of fan movements in the late 1980s, through the presentation of fan culture on mainstream TV programmes a decade later.

We have covered the broadcasting revolution – what football has done for television and vice-versa; the drastic changes to the football spectating experience, from crumbling terraces in the 1980s to the high-tech all-seat stadiums of the 21st century; and how clubs that were once locally run businesses have become part of a global corporate empire.

WSC has always addressed an informed readership. It is the magazine for people whose regular experience of football includes going to matches, even if the kick-off time has been rearranged to suit TV. We set out to to show that people follow non-League football and those who watch top-level clubs can share a common outlook

We want to see clubs being answerable to their support through having fan membership on boards and we reject the growing commodification of supporters –the way they are treated simply as consumers rather than participants. Many of the problems in the scene from which WSC emerged are still relevant today. We believe that the motivations and justification of government, police and football authorities in how they treat and control fans should always be challenged

Above all, we also believe that maintaining a sense of humour is a vital part of any football supporter’s outlook. Losing isn’t the end of the world and winning isn’t everything. It's about the ritual, the fascinating back-stories and side-stories, the personal angle. It’s about how individuals come together to enjoy the game as a collective.